yup... mine tooo. saw him here at the Glen. RIP.
Posted on 08/05/2009 7:57:45 PM PDT by Chode
This will be a general purpose thread for F1 news and pings that really don't require a thread of their own.
My favorite FI driver of all time. And I was lucky enough to meet him at Silverstone in 1992. I still remember his death like it was just yesterday. A truly great guy. Sorely missed.
yup... mine tooo. saw him here at the Glen. RIP.
Lewis Hamilton is confident he can secure a podium finish in Malaysia. The McLaren man said: "It's true Sepang is not one of my strongest circuits, however, I think this year's MP4-25 should suit the track because it generates so much downforce."
Full story: Daily Star
Jenson Button believes his performances in the first two races of the season mean he has a chance of retaining his world title. Button explained: "You always think the title might be on. It's a long season."
Full story: PlanetF1.com
Force India's Adrian Sutil is desperate to secure a top 10 finish in Malaysia having failed to score a point in Bahrain or Melbourne despite qualifying within the points-scoring positions in both grand prix.
Full story: GPupdate.net
Mercedes GP believes it is still on course to deliver the step forward in performance it needs to get Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher fighting for the world title later in the year.
Full story: autosport.com
Nick Wirth's company Wirth Research has taken full responsibility for the fuel tank error that has caused the Virgin Racing team to re-design their chassis and will pay for the fuel tank to be increased in size.
Full story: Formula1.net
Lotus boss Tony Fernandes is hoping his new-look team can prove the doubters wrong at the their first home grand prix in Malaysia.
Full Story: Skysports.com
tooo funny...
Briatore and Symonds allowed to return in 2013 Former Renault F1 team chiefs Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds have apologised to motorsport governing body the FIA for their roles in the Singapore 2008 race-fixing scandal, the Paris-based federation has revealed, as it also confirms that peace has now been established amongst the parties in the name of the sport. With 'Crashgate' having been associated to the first F1 night race but made public on the run-up to last year's event in Marina Bay, the scandal rocked the motorsport world and will forever be remembered as one of the worst examples of cheating in sporting history. The situation involved a pre-determined plot which would result in Renault driver Nelson Piquet Jr. crashing his car on purpose in order to rush the deployment of the Safety Car and therefore aid team-mate Fernando Alonso's run to victory. ........ More significantly, however, the FIA has confirmed that Briatore - who was originally dealt a lifetime ban from F1 - and Symonds - a 5-year ban - may now re-enter the sport as of the 2013 season onwards.
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it's like a miracle... mosley must be having a fit
Flavio's lifestyle is in great part F1
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And The Lesson: NEVER NEVER EVER speak to the cops ... nothing EVER gets better when you bring the in authorities
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Absolutely...
F1-gossip... Felipe Massa has warned his Ferrari team must perform better in qualifying in China after a mistake at the Malaysian Grand Prix meant he started 21st on the grid, costing him valuable points.
Full story: Ferrari.com
Ferrari will use the two engines it removed from its cars in Bahrain for the Chinese Grand Prix, having concluded they are fit to be used.
Full story: f1fanatic.co.uk
Mercedes GP are working on a major overhaul of their car in time for the Spanish Grand Prix, in the hope of fighting for wins at the upcoming European races.
Full story: espnF1.com
Korean Grand Prix organisers have denied that the country's maiden Formula 1 race, scheduled for 24 October, is in danger of being cancelled - stating that construction of the circuit will be finished on time.
Full story: autosport.com
Meanwhile, construction of the circuit which will host the inaugural Indian Grand Prix in 2011 has not yet begun. However, work to prepare the site near New Delhi for building is now 90% complete.
Full story: espnf1.com
Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher has decided to join the Grand Prix Drivers' Association, backtracking on his decision to not be a part of the body.
Full story: autosport.com
Force India chief Vijay Mallya remains confident that his team can claim fifth spot in the Constructor's standings, despite falling behind Renault after three races.
Full story: PlanetF1.com
Michael Schumacher frustrated by struggles in China Mercedes driver Michael Schumacher admitted he was "frustrated" by his finish in the Chinese Grand Prix after a disappointing weekend in Shanghai.
Schumacher was 10th after qualifying ninth, 0.723 seconds slower than team-mate Nico Rosberg, who finished third.
"It is one of those races that you call frustrating," said Schumacher, 41, a seven-time world champion.
"All weekend it didn't work out for myself. There were some good emotions, but there were too many bad emotions."
Schumacher, who has won a record 91 races in an illustrious career, is four events into his comeback after three years in retirement.
Haug unsure over Schumacher troubles
The German had a thrilling battle with Lewis Hamilton in an eventful race in Shanghai and it looked as if he was about to claim eighth place only for Red Bull's Mark Webber and Ferrari's Felipe Massa to pass him late on.
The rain-affected race saw Schumacher make four pit stops, two early on, as the teams tried to make the right choice between slick and intermediate tyres.
"At the beginning I thought we were quite clever as some others changed for intermediates but it turned out to be the wrong decision," he added.
"Those intermediates are slightly different to what I know them from the past and you have to pace yourself dramatically in order to keep them alive for long enough.
"The difficulty was with the weather to predict how long the rain is going to last. Congratulations to Nico, at least one of us scored good points."
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ANDREW BENSON BLOG
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The German has been out-qualified and out-performed by Rosberg at every race so far this year, with his best finish of sixth coming at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
He finished 10th in Australia after his car was damaged in a first-corner collision, before being forced to retire in Malaysia and has 10 points from the opening four races.
His displays have raised questions about the merits of the decision to return to Formula 1 but Schumacher's boss, Mercedes motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug, says he has full faith in his driver's ability.
"He could sit on his sofa but he is a competitive guy, and he wants to do it," Haug told BBC Sport. "He is an institution and will come back.
"As team management, this is our time to support our guys. The sport has so many positives from Michael and we want to give him some back.
"Give him a chance. I am 100% sure we will do a better job with Michael in the future."
And Haug revealed that the reason for Schumacher's difficulties in China may have been mechanical.
"I would not exclude that something is wrong with Michael's car," he added. "Give us a chance to look at that and we can come up with a good explanation."
Right strategy pays off for Rosberg
Rosberg, meanwhile, has settled in quickly with Mercedes following his switch from Williams over the winter and is sitting in second in the drivers' standings on 50 points after two successive podium finishes.
And the 24-year-old brushed off suggestions that he is the team's number one driver.
"From the very beginning we have been even in the team, even though everyone saw Michael as number one and me as number two," he said.
"Before the season I was hoping to be on one level with Michael all year, but I expect him to be there again next race and to be fighting with him would be great, and would be good for the team as well."
Rosberg insists there is more to come from his Mercedes, saying: "It's quite promising for us.
"This weekend we really got the best out of the car. We made the right calls throughout the race.
"At the moment I am feeling really comfortable in the team and I am thankful. They have helped me integrate really well.
"We have had a good step forward this weekend and had some upgrades for this track. I am really happy with the way it is going for me and with my season so far."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport/formula_one/8628089.stm/a>
How about those passes on the pit entrance? Hamilton on Vettel, then Alonso on Massa.
That was another fun race, with some great jousting.
Schumi does seem rather slow compared to his teammate, but I wonder if he is just coming to terms with the changes in the cars since he retired? I’m sure he’ll get a podium or two this season.
we all knew this was going to be one hell of a season...
Can you believe Petrov? I figured he was a paid driver who was a talentless pig, but he really drove the wheels off that Renault.
And the Frenchies seem much more sporting this season, which is surprise. I guess they just needed to drop the Roman playboy.
They can keep his wife though, she’s a baby.
F1's first Russian driver failed to finish the opening three races of the 2010 season, however, he broke that run of bad luck in Shanghai by beating the likes of Mark Webber and Michael Schumacher to seventh place and six world championship points, the first of his career.
Petrov's call to stay out on slicks at the start of the race when many of the front-runners pitted for intermediate tyres, helped him to make great gains in the opening laps of the grand prix and stood him in good stead for later in the race.
The 2009 GP2 runner-up timed his pit-stop to perfection and managed his tyres well throughout, giving him a distinct performance advantage over his rivals in the closing laps of the grand prix, while others struggled with severe tyre degradation.
"I am happy, but I always want more, so I'm not satisfied to finish only seventh because I must aim even higher," said Petrov.
"At the beginning of the race, we had to take a difficult decision about the tyres: some drivers, like the Red Bull guys, came in and it was all a bit crazy, but we decided to stay out on slicks and it was a good decision.
"At first, it was quite difficult to understand how hard to push, because we didn't know if the circuit would stay wet or start to dry out.
"Also, my helmet was full of water, so that made things a bit more difficult.
"My car was much quicker and my engineer, Mark Slade, told me that my pace was good, that I should continue to push, but also that I had to look after the condition of the left front tyre.
"Schumacher and Webber were both struggling with the tyres, but they were very fair with me, and I did some clean moves to pass them."
Petrov said his first F1 points finish was a reward for his engineers' hard work on getting his car fixed in time for qualifying, following his crash during third practice, where he went nose-first into the Armco at the final turn.
"We have done a fantastic job together and this Renault team feels really like a family," said Petrov.
"My mechanics did a brilliant job to rebuild the car between third practice and the race yesterday, and it was good to give them this reward by finishing in the points.
"The car is not too bad at the moment, but we know that we still need to work to make it even better.
"We're looking forward with a positive feeling, and we will be doing our maximum."
Petrov's team-mate Robert Kubica also finished in the points in fifth, adding an additional ten points to Renault's tally in the constructors' table.
Kubica's result puts him in seventh in the drivers' standings, just one point adrift of Felipe Massa who led the championship heading to China, while Petrov's result has reinforced Renault's fifth place in the constructors'.
http://www.inthenews.co.uk/news/sport/formula-one/petrov-happy-but-not-satisfied-by-first-f1-points-finish-$1372263.htm
Button is eating Lewis’s brain. Everyone thought that after Fred, Lewis would brush aside Button. Guess Button will have the last laugh. The Iceman Lewis has shown cracks in the last few races, mistakes, screaming about who made tire decisions, etc. Boy is this going to be fun to watch!
Michael, just wait and watch. He’s been out for three years and had a neck injury. With limited testing, it been hard for him to get up to speed, but just wait because I don’t think he has lost his speed, just a little rusty.
Poor Masha, always a bridesmaid, never the bride. Looks like Fred’s got control of the situation. Guess Ferrari is Fred’s cup of tea vs the McLaren fiasco.
and how many ways can RedBull lose a race? Guess if they held a one lap race Webber would win, it’s just that little problem he has with putting back to back lap times together. Webber has the classic problem of lifting off; you know when the track turns to grass, the grass turn to trees, it time to think about lifting………. My only thoughts on Sebastian, don’t buy a lotto ticket……………..
yup, gonna be one hell of a season... with four world champions on the track at the same time, i expect to see a lot of action and much drama before it's over
Seb has no luck at all but i still see great things to come for him so long as no black swan arises
did you look at the video in post #7 ??? it's outstanding!!!
OT for F1, but David Coulthard will be starting in his first DTM race at Hockenheim this weekend. Sorry, no links, but I’m sure some can be found. May he have better luck(skill?) than Schumi’s little brother Ralf has had for 3(!) years now. DTM always has a pretty close field in qualifying and some great action in the races.
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